About the School

Mount Holyoke College is a small liberal arts women's college in the western Massachusetts (the Pioneer Valley, to be exact). In 1837 it was the first women's college to be established in the United States, and the first of seven sister colleges. Of the original seven, four are still independent women's colleges. Fun Fact: One of Mary Lyon's prospective names for the college before it was founded was Pangynaskeia.

At the time of my college applications, Mount Holyoke wasn't my first choice or my second or my third or my fourth. In fact, I never gave it a number. 8 of the 10 programs I applied to were professional architecture programs, lasting 5 years and a whole lot of coffee. One of the two non-professional architecture schools I applied to was Mount Holyoke. The other was NYU. Mount Holyoke was a school I admired and could imagine myself attending, but was never really a top choice at the time. It was my safety school, the place I would go if no one else wanted me, and the thought of going there always lingered in my head through the application and waiting processes.

By the time decisions started trickling in, I began to feel unsettled by the idea of going to architecture school. It began with the lists of classes and courses that I wanted to take, the activities I wanted to do, the clubs I wanted to commit to, and everything else that architecture students didn't have the time for. Alas, I didn't get into my first choice school. Or my second choice, or my third (although it was close). At that point, I was just waiting for my NYU decision, as it had become my first choice with the decision to direct away from architecture school.

The day before NYU decisions were scheduled to be released, I went online and logged into my NYU application. Guess what? They never received my transcript. That, and decisions were about to be sent out. So, there went my first choice school, out the window and into the garbage dump. By then, there was nothing to be done.

In the end, I was deciding between RPI, Pratt, and Mount Holyoke. RPI offered me a $30,000 annual scholarship, Pratt was the option my parents nudged me toward, and Mount Holyoke is the school I chose. Pratt gave me the least money, I had to fight for more aid from Mount Holyoke (I also would not have to spend another year of tuition), and RPI is 70% male/nerd/geek/dork/unsociable/cave-dweller. But you know what? I am completely happy with my decision. I love Mount Holyoke. It is a beautiful school sprawling across 800 acres of land, there is a very prominent sense of sisterhood, and I don't have to take any physical science or math classes (thank god geography is considered a science). The students are the nicest people you will meet, the professors actually want to help you, and the faculty are your friends. My first-year dorm is 223 sq ft with a large window and window bench, I'm joining the novice crew team, and there are group spin classes that I don't have to pay for. Mount Holyoke is everything any student could ever ask for, and more.